Inclined parallel plate sedimentation devices and methods are well-known treatment for separating solid or liquid sedimentable constituents from a liquid and are used especially for treating water, such as drinking water, industrial waste water, and sewage, and in product separation and purification. Flocculated water and other mixed solutions contains material that should be separated to promote public safety, satisfy regulatory requirements, maintain processing facilities, improve presentability, and/or increase purity or recovery. Sedimentation is also used for purifying products or concentrating solids. For example, sedimentation could be used to help remove solids from oils or for harvesting algae from an algae farm.
Inclined parallel plate separator devices are sometimes used to treat mixed solutions by separating sedimentable solids from liquids. However, conventional devices are generally large and require a substantial footprint on a floor space. Lending to the size of a typical inclined plate separator is the angle of the plates along which solutions travel along the plates. Typical inclined plate systems have plate angles near sixty (60) degrees relative to the horizontal. Inclined plates at a lower angle using conventional technology tend to permit solids to settle and build up between plates, limiting the area available for flow and thereby increasing liquid velocity and the potential to re-suspend solids. Such circumstances reduce the effectiveness of such devices.
A need therefore exists for devices and methods that address these disadvantages. Devices and methods are needed for providing greater settling areas while avoiding blockage caused by build-up along an inclined plate, and reducing the footprint and costs of sedimentation systems.